Love Me Dead
by Ellie-Ohhh
Summary: High school, musical geniuses, parties, mean girls, and boys who just won't take a hint. All Christine wants to do is get through the year and manage being normal around Erik. "It's a tragic love story, lovers torn apart by a twisted plot devised by their assistant. He condemns them to hell." She kept his gaze, "Wow. Rough times for the lovers." AU, Modern, E/C. Hilarity ensues.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: And here I am, with my first Phantom of the Opera story. It's been swimming around my brain for a while now, and I can't resist any longer! It's major AU, high school! Erik and Christine. The gangs all here for this story. Let me know what you think!

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She tried to contain the treacherous yawn as she sipped at her coffee, she was tired – devastatingly so – and she really wasn't in the mood for this. And by this, she was of course referring to existing. She had woken up to the smell of Starbucks wafting around her dorm room, her room mate – who also free lanced as her best friend – Meg had drove her perpetually perky ass to go pick up their morning coffee, knowing that Christine would most definitely need it.

And boy, did she.

Meg certainly knew her very well, she was grateful for her best friend for many reasons, too many to even count or list. But, pulling the comforter off of Christine's sleeping form, and proceeding to play her horrid dance pop music loudly, was _so _not one of them. Especially after the night they had, how Meg could be this awake after that fine display of party, she had no idea.

She wasn't really a party girl, the whole 'get wasted and get naked' scene wasn't really her deal, and everyone knew it. But, she had accompanied Meg over to the Athletics dorms where a party was being held because of the team's big win, except it was more like a fucking rager than the party she had been expecting. She could swear on her scholarship that practically everyone that went to Belleview Prep had been there, crammed into those dorms. She knew most of the people there, or at least a good majority, she was friendly with a lot of people, but mostly because of her association with Meg, and she supposed Raoul. So, deciding to let loose for a night, she downed almost half a bottle of tequila, got up on a table and karaoke-d her ass along with every song, and on top of it all, she was pretty sure that she had let Raoul kiss her. Which had definitely been not on her to-do list.

Raoul had been pining after her since as long as she could remember. They had been friends once, when they were much younger. Her Father had been close to his parents, and her Mother too, before her death. Raoul had been a year or so older than her, cute with his honey brown hair and those big blue eyes, and he had been nice to her, paid her mind. He called her Little Lotte, after some childish joke that she couldn't even remember, a song had come out of it too. But, she could barely remember that either.

After her Father died she stopped seeing everyone, she had moved in with Meg, and for the first year she refused to play with anyone that wasn't the shorter girl. She hadn't wanted to face the outside, if she did it meant the last remains of family she had, was gone.

So, she stopped seeing Raoul, having no real connection to him or his family anymore. She hadn't even thought about him until they attended middle school, and there he was, all grown and dashing, and the same old Raoul – slightly annoying in his persistence and was the cause of many faked smiles from her. But, he was sweet. Which made her feel worse about giving him the wrong impression.

Raoul liked her.

That much was amazingly obvious.

Meg told her all the time how awesome it was that the most popular guy in school wanted her, but Christine just couldn't do it. Raoul reminded her of a time she didn't like to think about, it reminded her of a happier time with her Father, down by the sea, playing music and being delightfully _content_.

That wasn't to say that she was unhappy with her life now, that would be ungrateful and selfish. Because, she loved her life with Meg and Madame Giry, she really did. But, she missed her Father, she wished she had known her Mother, she missed her family and that time she should've had with them.

And, Raoul just reminded her of that. She didn't want to dwell on old memories, she wanted to create new ones, she wanted to live in the present and the future. Because, if she looked back, she would stay there, and she would never be happy.

Poor Raoul just didn't know that, so while she would have him as a close acquaintance, she couldn't really see him as a real friend or as a lover. She just couldn't.

But, in drunken stupidity, she had kissed him.

In front of everyone.

God, how was she going face the population of Belleview Prep today, after last night? Cause, last time she checked her name wasn't Lindsay Lohan, she wasn't Miley Cyrus or Amanda Bynes, she wasn't a tragic hot mess that everyone knew about, and she definitely wasn't suave and collected enough to play it off like it was no big deal.

But, nevertheless, Meg had made her get up, got her ass in the shower, and watched her pull on her uniform to make sure she didn't go back to bed. For a party girl, Meg was surprisingly serious about school, mostly because her Mother would beat her shapely ass with a pointe shoe if Meg wasn't. She loved Madame Giry, Antoinette was her surrogate Mother and as tough as she was, Christine had always appreciated it.

Antoinette wasn't going to let her fall, or succumb to her depressed desires. She had bucked up, Christine and made her live. She had let her wallow for a while and then, just woke her up and out of it. Christine could never be more thankful of Madame Giry, and she could never repay her for all that she had done for her, as a child and an a young adult.

Growing up her family had lived next door to the Giry's, just a typical, normal family home, in the middle of suburbia. The development was large, the people were friendly, it was just so casually normal. After the death of her Father, Antoinette had taken her in. Madame Giry had legally adopted her at the tender age of seven, and she had lived with Meg and her Mother ever since, it worked out well though, considering that she and Meg had been best friends since kindergarten.

Madame Giry had enrolled them into the middle school that companied their high school, and when it came time for them to dorm at Belleview Prep High School, they damn well made sure that they were together for that too.

"Come on Christine, if you fucking lallygag any more, Professor Nexon will make you sit in the hall!"

It wasn't a secret that she was a good student, she paid attention in class, had her assignments in on time, and always answered the teacher with a blush and smile, her impossibly wide eyes slightly downcast. But, it was also no secret that Mr. Nexon didn't really favor Christine, and she was never really ever able to figure out why. So, his punishment for her whenever she was late was to have her sit out in the hallway, by herself, until the end of class. Yeah, he was a very pleasant man.

"Yeah, I know Meg, I'm coming."

She closed her locker, putting the last of her things in her satchel, and continued on with her best friend. She tried to keep her head down, and keep from making eye contact with anyone, she certainly wasn't in the mood yet to talk about last night, so she figured it would be easier if she didn't incite it. Of course, that didn't stop the casual call of her name and an arm thrown around her shoulders.

She gave a sigh as she looked over and saw the strategically tousled blond locks, and a smirk that she knew all too well. "Hey, Raoul."

"So, Christine," She hated the way he was saying her name. "Sleep well?"

She could hear Meg snickering beside her. "Yeah, just fine, Raoul." She shrugged his arm off of her shoulders, and gave him a tight lipped smile. "I've got class, I'll see you later."

"But, Christine – "

He was cut off by a shorter boy, who had walked up to the group and inserted himself between them. "There you are, my gorgeous little rump-shaker, I need the notes from Nexon's last class. Could I possibly borrow them and you – if you don't mind me stealing her, Raoul – because I am severely lacking in this class."

She tried to contain her thankful smile and nodded, "Of course, Nadir! You know I always help you when it comes to Advanced Lit."

"Well, thank the Heavens! Now my parents won't have to send me back to the old country."

He looped his arm through her's and Christine did the same to Meg's, together they bounded down the hall. She threw a small smile over her shoulder and called back at Raoul, "I'll see you later, Raoul."

He just stood there, a small frustrated crease in his brow, and gave a curt wave back. Thank God for, Nadir. What ever would she do without him?

He turned the corner and stopped at his own locker, opening it and grabbing some binders, "Well, he seemed touchy."

Meg chuckled, "Yeah, well, we sorta expected that to happen."

"After last night, I don't blame him." Nadir, remarked snidely.

She closed her eyes and banged her head gently on the locker next to his, "Does _everybody_ know?"

"Mostly." She hated how blunt he was sometimes. "I wasn't even there and I know all about it. The table dance, the Miley Cyrus twerk impression, the big one you planted on Monsieur de Changy..."

"Oh, God." She kept banging her head. "My life, is over."

She could practically hear Meg rolling her sky blue eyes. Bitch. Christine wouldn't even be in this situation if her best friend had just let her stay home and finish her Chem paper, veg out, maybe watch a movie. But, no, Meg just _had _to be the life of the party, and just _needed_ her wing-man. Once again, bitch.

He smacked her ass, "Stop being such a melodrama queen. It was one bad party foul, you're seventeen, you'll get over it and so will everyone else."

"Now I have Raoul all over me."

Nadir rolled his dark eyes at Meg, who did the same. "Like he wasn't before."

She let out a long sigh, "Why won't he just take the hint? Do I really have to be mean and tell him to get over it?"

He nodded, "Probably, yeah. Raoul is thick, that's why you have so few classes with him." He saw how her face fell at the thought of having to breach her comfort zone and be mean for once. He put an arm around her shoulders, "Come on, we have to get to class. And, I really do need those notes, so sit next to me."

"It's really not _that_ bad, Christine." Meg exclaimed as she pushed herself from locker she had been leaning on. "I mean, I've done way worse and I'm still on top of my game."

Well, that was because Meg Giry was beautiful and blonde and bendy, and knew exactly what to say all of the time. She could throw up on someone and they'd still ask her out. It happened, she'd watched it with her own eyes.

"That's because you're Meg, and she's Christine." Nadir smiled and hip-checked the smaller girl to his right. "You ready?"

She nodded, pushing herself from the lockers and walking with him towards their classroom. A thought struck her, "How did you hear about the kiss? No one was around for that...is Raoul telling people?"

He could hear her heart speeding up in her voice, saw her pale at the very thought. "No, girl, clam down. Our darling little imp texted me last night and told me all about it."

She turned and fixed a glare at Meg, who just looked at her cellphone sheepishly.

Christine was going to kill her. Like, really full on, dismembered limbs and gore galore, kill her.

Her brows furrowed as she turned her gaze towards, Nadir. "Wait, why weren't you at the party last night? Almost everyone was there."

Not that the fact that everyone was there really mattered, she certainly wouldn't have went if Meg would have let her stay. Nadir was something else, a creature of his own, he was popular when he wanted to be and a total recluse when he was bored of it. Kids let him do as he pleased, which was interesting, seeing as how ninety-five percent of teenagers were douche bags. Nadir was just different. He was completely cool in every way, amazingly fun, and hilarious. He hung out with who he wanted and played nice with the rest. She loved him.

Some thought he was gay, and with the way he spoke to Meg and herself, she couldn't exactly blame people for suspecting. He was just free, and sarcastic, and pleasantly over the top. He had a killer voice and smooth moves, he was basically Broadway's wet dream.

She had found him in Middle School, they had Computer Science together that semester and they had just started talking. He would send her IMs about how the class was boring him to death and more exciting ways that he'd like to go – certainly _Death by Keyboard __Exercises _wasn't the way you'd want to be put down. He was funny and charming and didn't want anything from her but friendship. She loved it.

He had made friends with Meg that same year too, and soon she found the three of them hanging out more and more. He would gossip with them, go shopping, make ridiculous music videos in Meg's basement with them. It almost was like having a gay best friend, and it was a fucking riot.

But, Nadir was more than that. He was a genuinely good person, with a huge heart. Meg and her aside, he had his best friend and when Erik wanted him to hang out, Nadir politely declined the girls offer to go out. She liked that about him, she liked how loyal he was. Especially to Erik, the poor kid had enough on his plate. And, she was pretty sure that Nadir was his only friend. It made her stomach hurt. She knew that loneliness, she knew just how much it sucked. She hated to see anyone in that much pain, and poor Erik Dessler seemed to be in its constant state.

After thinking about it, she wasn't surprised by Nadir's answer to her question. "Sir Erik, needed help on his _Opera_."

She liked how Nadir managed to make even the simplest things so dramatic and news worthy and important. She giggled at the way he said it, "How long has he been working on it again?"

Nadir talked often of Erik, and the things he did, like he was proud of him. It was cute, and so nice. She was sure she talked of Meg the same way. "Years. At this point, I just can't fucking wait for it to be finished. At least then he won't be such a moody asshole all the time."

She couldn't contain the chuckle at the though, she wasn't sure why it was funny to her, but just the thought of Erik slaving away over a piano and Nadir dicking around beside him was just too much for her to handle. "He's not _that_ bad."

He turned and gave her a look, "That's because you don't see whats behind the wall of cool indifference that he puts up for school. At home he's an annoying prick who _never shuts up_." He said the last part loud enough for Erik himself to hear, she flushed a little as she made eye contact with him from where he was turning around the corner and towards them. "Yeah, that's right, you heard me."

Erik simply quirked a brow at the part of Nadir's comment that he heard. "Stop talking about me."

That was all he said. King of the short answers and the barely-there comments; Erik Dessler everyone. But, those few short words were enough to make her internally swoon. His voice was deep and dark and magic sex. God, his voice was so attractive – not that the rest of him wasn't, because it certainly was, but praise Allah his voice!

She internally slapped herself and stopped her minor fangirling. He wasn't a celebrity, or someone even remotely famous, he was just Erik. The seventeen year old musical prodigy who everyone thought was a freak, and sequentially was a total outcast. But, damn, was he hot.

All the girls secretly thought so, a few not so secretly. But, no one went out with him, because he was weird. And, yeah, he was pretty weird. But, a lot of that was just his genius intensity peaking through. See, she got it, she understood him. So, did that qualify him fucking her into oblivion?

She flushed so intensely at the mere thought that Nadir actually put his hand on her forehead and checked for a fever. "You okay, Christine? You look like you're gonna throw up."

She jerked his arm away from her, "I'm fine, Nadir."

He pulled the coffee out of her hands and narrowed his gaze at her, in an impressive Erik impersonation. "No more hot coffee for you."

She rolled her eyes, ignoring Meg's snickering from where she was glued to her phone beside her, and tried to keep her gaze off of Erik and all of his unbelievable attractiveness. How no one had jumped on that bandwagon yet was astonishing to her. He was tall, so tall, and lean with muscle. His hair was dark and always slicked back in a perfect coif, his strong jaw clean shaven, and those deep, endless, ocean colored eyes were enough to get lost in forever.

Clearly, she didn't spend a lot of time thinking about him or anything. Because, that would be embarrassing.

But, she knew why no one liked him, or admittedly anyway. And, it wasn't because of his intense musical genius that caused him to act strangely sometimes – but, she was sure that didn't help matters. No, it was the shield of thick, white porcelain that covered the right side of his face. Hairline to the top of that nip-able jaw, that shit was on lock.

It was a mystery surrounding the reason as to why he wore it. Everyone speculated, and no one _really_ knew, but, regardless of the _why_ people thought it was bizarre and strayed away.

She really couldn't deny them that, it _was_ bizarre. But, she didn't see why that should render him a social misfit. He was insanely talented, he would go onto Juilliard next year, graduate early and his musicals would be preformed at the Opera Populaire, she had absolutely no doubt about it. So, she felt as though he shouldn't fret about these kids, because most of whom he'd literally never see again. She hoped he saw it that way.

It had been quiet once they met up with Erik on their way to class, Meg was checking the social networks for stuff about the party last night, she was internally rambling, and Erik never really spoke when Christine was around – for whatever weird reason that was, and it killed her because she was in love with his voice. Nadir just walked in between them, sipping at Christine's stolen coffee and humming to himself.

"So, Erik," She turned and looked at him from where he was walking beside Nadir, "What's your Opera about?"

He paled a little, his eyes narrowing for a brief moment as he looked upon Nadir – who was looking forward, pretending he knew nothing in a striking Meg impression – she had a feeling that if she hadn't been looking specifically for Erik's reaction to her question, she would've missed it. He was a very controlled guy, she guessed he had to be with all the hate he got. But, boy, did she want to see him all out of control and wild. _Cool it, Christine_. She had to stop doing this to herself. _No more sexy-times thoughts of, Erik!_

He cleared his throat, "It's a tragic love story."

That was clearly all he intended to say on the subject, but Christine being Christine, she wasn't about to let him got that easily and played up her innocent naivety a bit. "Mmm-hmm, as most tend to be. What else?"

She could see Nadir snicker out of the corner of her eye, and hear Meg bite back the chuckle that was so desperately trying to escape, they were on to her and they seemed liked where it was headed. She watched Erik stiffen a bit before thinking of his next response.

"The main lovers are torn apart by a twisted plot devised by the lover's assistant." He turned to look Christine in the eyes, "He condemns them to hell."

"Wow." She kept his gaze, saying the first thing that came to her mind. "Rough times for the lovers."

She sighed. Classic Christine makes a comeback. She was one of those foot-in-mouth people, where she spoke before she thought. God, he probably thought she was an idiot and would never talk to her again. Great.

He tried to contain a smirk, and failed. Nadir noticed mirth in his, usually, cold gaze. Hmm, he'd have to interrogate him on that later.

They walked into Nexon's class, on time, thankfully. Christine took her normal seat in the middle section, Meg to her left, Nadir to her right, and Erik a few seats down from Nadir. She chanced a look over to him and found that he was looking back, she gave him a small smile, one that he returned.

That was something, wasn't it? He didn't just _smile_ at anyone, did he? She thought not!

Triumph.

Score one: Christine.

Maybe today wasn't going to suck as much as she had originally thought.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Sorry for the wait! More Erik in this chapter, some of our fav characters are fleshed out a little more in this one. Reviews and comments are _greatly_ appreciated! Also, there are pictures of the characters on my profile, follow the link and see in my minds eye - Erik and Christine are of course Emmy and Gerard, they're too perfect to change. Let me know how I'm doing!

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She had taken down the speedy notes that Professor Nexon had given, jotting down some side-notes of the things that he said. She was nothing if not thorough. Nadir had snatched them up when she was done, Meg texting him to give them to her later – because she had missed most of what the teacher had said, spending the time on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and any other social media sites that she obsessively frequented, making sure that no horrid pictures of them had showed up from the party last night.

She had found one that was completely and utterly tragic, not of herself, but of course, of Christine. Meg had slid her phone over onto Christine's desk to show her, and it really almost made her want to throttle Raoul.

He had posted a picture of Christine standing on the table, a bottle in one hand, her eyes closed and singing her hear out to The Darkness' _I Believe in a Thing Called Love_. He had captioned it: _My Little Lotte certainly knows how to have a good time ;) christinedaae #ibelieveinathingcalledlove #whitegirlwasted #sexyback #soprano #Belleviewpreppartytime!_

She hated him. Officially, she hated him.

God, why did Raoul have to be such a clueless prick all of the time?

She knew that he meant no harm by it, and usually she was very calm and collected as a person, she wasn't bothered by a lot of things. But, with Raoul... He just got under her skin, even though technically he was one of her oldest friends, she just couldn't stand him anymore. He was overbearing and couldn't take a hint.

Did he really think that she would look at her Instagram notifications and smile with mild embarrassment over the picture? Did he really think that she would find it charming? He really needed to get a fucking clue.

She sighed and pushed the phone away from her, she didn't care – well, she was trying not to anyway. She'd see him later today in Chorus and she'd have him delete it then. She just hoped that Erik didn't see it, she didn't want him to get the wrong impression of her. She wasn't a party girl, she didn't even really like getting drunk or socializing. She was antisocial, she spent a lot of time reading or watching movies, and after a movie, she went and read trivia about said movie. See, she wasn't cool at all. She was geeky and boring and just liked to sing. She wasn't impressive or fun or even that entertaining. She often spoke out of turn and usually before thinking things through, or didn't speak at all – which made her a riot to some people and embarrassing to all the others.

She didn't understand what Raoul saw in her that he wanted so badly, couldn't he see that she clearly wasn't interested? Apparently not, and that was the problem.

Couldn't he just go back out with Carlotta and call it a day?

Like, _that's_ how much she wanted him to leave her alone, she was willing to put up with Carlotta's wrath. And that was something that everyone, everywhere tried to avoid.

Carlotta Giudicelli; Prima Donna and bitch extraordinaire.

She was, for lack of a better word, rude. And vile. And manipulating. What Carlotta wanted, Carlotta got – usually at her wealthy Father's expense.

Carlotta had moved to Paris from Italy a few years ago, she used her culture and her fantastic voice to get her to the top. She knew what she wanted and how to get it. She was smart, Christine would give her that much.

But, she was just so _mean_, and Christine didn't like mean. And Carlotta didn't like Christine. Mostly because Raoul liked Christine, but also because she threatened Carlotta's spot at the top.

She scoffed, like she cared about that. Sure, she would love to play the lead in the schools end of the year show, of course she wanted to get a scholarship to a good school, or be the Prima Donna somewhere like the Opera Populaire. But, she wasn't stupid enough to try and take it out of Carlotta's greedy hands. No, when the time was right, Christine would get her chance, she believed in fate and karma and all of that mumbo jumbo. She knew that when the Angel Of Music saw fit, she'd have her chance.

She had never been a deeply spiritual person, her family had never really went to church with all the traveling they did when she was younger. But, after her Mother's passing, and her Father stopped traveling, he had started speaking about the Angel Of Music, and after he got sick, he had made Christine promise to never forget about him, or the Angel. And, she hadn't, she wouldn't, not ever.

She knew the Angel wasn't an actual someone, at least, her Father didn't speak of him as such. She knew he wasn't a spirit, or a ghost. He was just...around, in the air, guiding her.

It was stupid, she was stupid for believing, but she did. Her Father had promised her that when she found the music, she would know, the Angel would tell her.

Raoul was not her Angel, she knew that much. She just didn't feel inspired around him, she felt annoyed, aggravated, homicidal? She couldn't find any better adjectives to describe it, those would have to do.

He had seemed happy with Carlotta, at least, he looked happy to be wrapped up in all those curves. Carlotta was a beautiful girl, she was just pure evil under all that red hair and perfect cleavage.

She thought about them as a couple, a power couple; rude and pretty and perfect. Carlotta seemed extra bitchy now that her and Raoul had split – a whole two weeks ago – and within those two weeks Raoul saw it fit to try and hit on her as many times possible. Maybe she should try and hook them back up and save everyone a lot of migraines That wasn't a bad idea actually, maybe then he'd leave her alone.

Not likely, but hey, a girl could dream.

She glanced back over to Erik, he was jotting something down, his eyes trained on his paper, his brows furrowed in thought. She wondered if she was the type of person that annoyed him to death. Maybe that would explain why he chose to be anywhere else than wherever she and Meg tended to be, even if Nadir was there with them. The casual walk to in the same direction or a seat near her in class didn't count, at least not to her. Did he hate her? It'd certainly explain a lot. She'd have to ask Nadir later. Or would that just open a can of worms that she really didn't want to deal with?

It was all so confusing. She'd never told anyone of her crush on Erik – or Le Phantom, as Raoul had taken to calling him a few years ago, which was _so_ not funny in her opinion. She hadn't told Meg, not Nadir, not anyone. Which, was very unlike her. When it came to boys, and dates, clothes or makeup, she ran straight to those two. She was lost when it came to normal girl-like things, she just usually didn't care, but when she was forced to be normal, she consulted with the Gurus.

Which is why it was so strange that she had never mentioned her borderline obsession – not really, that was a joke – with the musical prodigy stage right. She sneaked another glance towards him, his dark hair perfectly kempt and smooth, his bright eyes downcast, his perfect jaw set. What would it be like to have that intense gaze set upon her, with a yearning in his voice while he sang? She had thought about it, clearly, but she wondered if it would ever happen. She knew the answer to her question; if she wanted it to happen with Erik, she'd have to make it happen. He seemed like the type of guy that didn't take _having fun_ very seriously. He didn't date, he didn't hang out, he didn't even say: "I'll see ya later." because he didn't mean it.

In all the years that they had known Erik, by association with Nadir, never once did he decide to join in or hang out with them. He just preferred to be alone, or alone with Nadir. He glanced at them from afar, just to make sure of his surroundings – or as she liked to pretend, to watch over them; she swooned at the mere thought – he would show up where they were sometimes, but never stay. He was usually found in the Music room, the Auditorium, or the dorms; slaving away on whatever musical piece of magnificence he decided to jot down today.

She wanted to sing for him.

She felt herself blush deeply at the thought of singing for him; his deep, gaze solely upon her, sizing her up, begging her to go further for him.

She had to discreetly fan herself, was it always this hot in here? God, even the thought of the scenario was magnificence.

She mentally shook her head, no, it was stupid. She wasn't worthy enough to sing one of his pieces, her voice not stellar enough. But, man, did she want to be in one of his Opera's. He'd been writing the end of the year shows since they were in Middle School. That's when the Headmaster and the Arts Director realized what they had on their hands. They had thought they were harboring a charity case, something that would make their top ten school diverse, and then they heard his music. He had been writing for them ever since, they pushed all their resources into him, which was why she knew he'd get into a great school, and why she knew that he'd end up at whatever Opera House of his choosing.

God, she was pathetic. Was she pathetic? She definitely was.

She was swooning over him left and right, talking him up in her own head. She knew he was a mere mortal like the rest of them, but there was something just so...ethereal and sinister about him. Like he wasn't a real person. He just seemed so dangerous and intriguing all at once. She wanted to know him, the mystery surrounding his very presence was killing her slowly. She wanted to know what lie beneath, the surface, the facade, the mask.

Yeah, she wanted to know what was beneath it. She wanted to know why he wore it. She could guess, obviously it was something he wanted, or needed, to hide. But, what? And how did it happen?

Was it a scar? A heinous scar from a bar fight? An ugly birth defect that he just didn't want to explain? Did someone pour acid on his face when he was young?

She shook her head, that's it, she was watching _way_ too much CSI and Law & Order: SVU in her spare time.

Whatever it was, she just wanted to know. She was curious, _nosy_ as Meg so nicely called it. She knew curiosity killed the cat and blah blah, old wise tale, blah. But, it didn't stop her from wanting.

She wanted to know about him, his life, what he liked and what he didn't like, how he came to live with the Khan's and what transpired before then. Nadir usually did a stand up job at keeping secrets – surprising, for the gossip that he was – but, while he talked about Erik and his accomplishments and the annoying little things that set Nadir off, he was amazingly tight-lipped about everything else when it came to his best friend. Nadir had let is slip once that Erik lived with him outside of school, and had for a long while. Nadir had said it in casual conversation and didn't even notice the slip-up, he had just kept on talking.

Christine had filed that little piece of information away, she would wait for the the right opportunity to bring it up – whether to Nadir or Erik himself, she wasn't sure yet.

The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Nexon grumpily let the class go, calling out for them to remember their paper's were due at the end of the week. She quickly picked up her notebooks, shoving them into her satchel, and scooting out of the row with Meg trailing behind her, attempting to catch up to Nadir and Erik – who were walking briskly ahead of them.

Meg cozied up beside her, "So."

She had that stupid smirking grin on her face, combined with a quirked brow; Christine knew that look, she didn't like that look. "So, what?"

Meg just continued to smile, "So...you and_ Le Phantom_ having a moment earlier."

Christine scoffed, "That wasn't a moment."

Meg just shrugged a small shoulder, "Sure it wasn't." She plucked her phone from her bag pocket, checking the text that had just come through. "So, what're you gonna do about this whole, Raoul thing?"

Christine just shook her head dejectedly, "I don't know. I'm mad that he's such an idiot, but I don't want to hurt his feelings, you know. Just because he's a persistent douche sometimes, doesn't mean he's not an old friend. I don't like being mean, even if he is annoying me."

Meg got it, she understood where Christine was coming from, but the brunette just needed to bulk up and tell the boy to fuck off! Meg liked Raoul, she did. He was a sweet kid, he was popular as hell, and he wasn't too bad on the eyes. If he wasn't so desperately set on her best friend, Meg might've went out with him freshmen year – but, then he dated Carlotta and shit got weird, so Meg chucked deuces for that scenario.

But, Raoul _was_ a nice guy, and he'd never done anything malicious in his entire existence. He just couldn't take a hint, he was oblivious. And annoying. But, also sweet. So, yeah, she totally got why Christine didn't want to be mean to him. It was hard, her best friend was definitely in a strange place. But, Christine needed to do what felt right for her, whatever that may be.

Meg looked over at Christine – whose eyes were locked on the pair a little while in front of them. It was curious, always curious, the way Christine's gaze landed on the dark haired boy. It made Meg think and wonder. "I think you just need to tell him the truth."

Christine tore her gaze away from the boys in front of them, turning to look at the smaller girl. The way Meg was looking at her, Christine couldn't tell who Meg was referring to. Christine looked away from Meg's dark eyes, "Yeah, I know."

She parted with Meg for second period, pairing up with Nadir instead, and then meeting back up with the blond for the third. She kind of couldn't wait for this year to be over, it was her last one, after this she could do as she pleased. She could try and get a scholarship for college, she could ditch school entirely and try and join an Opera House or a Conservatory of Fine Arts, or she could take the year off and better her singing, travel the world. The options were endless, all she had to do was try.

It was exciting, the mere notion of not having to be stuck in classes everyday at Belleview Prep, not having to rise early if she didn't want to. But, it was also daunting. What if she chose wrong? What if she wasn't good enough or well received. Thoughts like that plagued her mind from time to time, she tried to silence them, it didn't always work.

She caught up with Nadir who was up the hall, standing with Erik. At her approach, the taller boy started to inch away, "I'll see you in Chorus."

"Yup." Nadir just waved him off, and Erik was already set down the hall.

"Well, he's certainly brisk."

Nadir chuckled, "Well, that's Erik for you. He runs when he's uncomfortable."

"Which is what, all the time?"

"Basically." He chuckled.

They walked into their class, students still milling about the room, not ready to get in their seats. Christine and Nadir sat, mentally preparing themselves for the heinous math test that was about to ensue in the next couple minutes. She used their already present conversation to further quench her intrigue about Erik, in the disguise of casual conversation.

"Is that why he's so flighty? He's uncomfortable?"

Nadir gave a shrug, chuckling as he answered. "Well, I wouldn't say he's flighty. He's just...steadfast in not being around."

Christine let a small silence grow between them before asking the question that she really wanted to know. "Is it me?" She turned to look at Nadir, "Does he just, not like me?"

Nadir's eyes held a sadness that she didn't understand, he opened his mouth to quickly reply when the bell rang and their teacher closed the door to the classroom, announcing that it was time for their exam. He sent a meaningful look before rummaging through his backpack for a pencil. She was annoyed that she didn't get an answer, afraid that he wouldn't give it to her after the class ended.

Professor Hathaway passed their test papers out, the rows passing them behind. She grabbed the packets, taking one and passing the rest back. She gave a sigh, chancing one last look at Nadir – who was already sweating looking through the test packet – before settling in to take this nightmare quiz and get her answer soon.

-[-[-[-[-

They walked out of Math like zombies, Christine rubbing her eyes with her fists. Her brain hurt. Like actually hurt. Who decided that math should be second period? Or any period, for that matter.

Nadir walked with Christine to her locker so she could switch out her books for her next classes, waiting patiently as she tried her combination for the third time before it finally opened. She had World History next with Meg, then Chemistry and Latin alone, then lunch, then Chorus. Depending on the day of the week, her day could be done after Chorus, or she'd usually have a dance class or a private singing lesson. The full schedule was one of the reasons why Belleview was the best, but it was also one of the reasons why she wanted to kill herself.

"God, that was horrible."

Nadir nodded, "I don't think I was even close to right on questions forty-two through fifty-six."

Christine groaned. "Don't remind me, I think I left some of those blank."

She switched out her books, closing the locker and then leaning against it. Math made her feel drained. She wasn't built for Math, she was built for arts. She felt like she could take a six hour nap right about now.

"You know, Christine..." He was being awkward. Nadir was being awkward. Someone alert the media, because this was a first. "What you said before, it isn't true. Erik doesn't hate you. Nobody hates you, you're Christine."

She wasn't quite sure what that last part meant, but she was glad to hear that Erik didn't hate her. But, at the same time, Nadir failed to dispute the fact that she was the reason he ran away all the time. She had a feeling that he just wouldn't be the one to say it.

Christine just looked into his dark eyes, smiling just a bit. "Well, Carlotta hates me."

Nadir gave her that beautiful full smile of his, the awkwardness gone, and chuckled while replying, "Yeah, she does."

She swatted his arm before lightly shoulder-checking him as she past, making her way down the hall to meet up with Meg. The blond saw her approach and slammed her locker door shut, strutting towards Christine with a particularly foul look on her face. "Uh, hi?"

"I _loath _him."

The confusion on Christine's face would've been comical if Meg hadn't been so mad. "I'm sorry, who are we speaking of?"

Meg trotted along, her voice livid, her face fuming, leaving Christine to catch up to the smaller girl's pace as they made their way to World History. "Oh, you _know_ who I'm talking about."

Christine's brows furrowed, "I do?"

Meg nodded her head sharply, "Yes. A certain douche bag that I slept with during summer break."

Christine tried to piece together a memory from the information that Meg had just supplied her with. "Remy? Little Jammes cousin from the bar, Remy?" Meg nodded furiously, her face still contorted with anger. "What has he done now?"

Meg had this habit of sleeping around with the same few guys from home, one of them happened to be Remy Le Ferre. He was the older cousin of a girl who lived in their neighborhood, he owned a bar downtown and never carded them to get in. This made Meg very happy, and when Meg was very happy she tended to get very...loose. So, Remy became her go-to, even though he had a girlfriend. Clearly, this was bound to get messy, Christine was surprised it had lasted as long as it did.

"Oh, I'll tell you what he's done!" She whipped out her phone, getting ready to read exactly what Remy _Le Asshole_ had said to her. "He commented on one of my pictures from last night and basically said I looked like a slut and that his _girlfriend_ had more class than I did. But then proceeded to text me and tell me that he's horny. Like, seriously?! God, I hate men."

Christine blushed a little as people stopped to look at them at Meg's naughty exclamation, it wasn't the worst she'd heard Meg exclaim, but it still embarrassed her to some degree. She turned to look at her fuming best friend, she'd had shit luck with boys in the past. "Sorry girl, that...sucks." It was obvious Christine wasn't really sure what to say in a situation like this, but she kept on going, hoping she'd make it better somehow. "You shouldn't hate _all_ men, just some – the ones that are assholes. You know what I'm saying."

Meg just shook her head, chuckling at Christine's foot-in-mouth response. That was her best friend, slightly awkward and always hilarious. Leave it to Christine to take her from sixty to zero in a minute flat. "Yeah, I got you."

Christine threw her arm around Meg's shoulders as they continued walking to class. "Just be done with him. You're better than that anyway. And you're hot-totties, use that to its fullest potential and get yourself some new game."

Meg nodded, "You're right. I _am_ hot. And, I'm over him."

They took their seats for World History, quietly sitting as the bell rang and the teacher announced their assignments for the week. Christine just mindlessly taking notes and not really even listening to the teacher; Meg sat beside her, texting furiously and not paying anyone any mind. She was probably texting Remy back, cutting the cords from him. Good for her, she just hoped that Meg would finally follow through with this break-off.

Sometimes, Christine wished she had the boy woes that Meg did. All she had was Raoul – who was a huge headache himself, she wasn't doubting that. But, sometimes she wished that she had all the boys after her the way they ran after Meg.

Or, maybe just the unwavering attention of one boy.

She let her mind drift off to Erik, again. She recalled what Nadir had said to her, he didn't hate her, and that was a start. She had next period with him, they didn't usually socialize, because that would be causing all of the biblical plagues to happen at once. She chuckled at her own sarcasm, she was getting good at it, she mentally prided herself. Maybe she'd talk to him today in class, she already had a _moment_ with him as Meg had called it, what would be the harm in it?

She felt excited as History ended, and nauseas, Meg stood with her and they parted at the door. She made her way down to the Science wing as quickly as she could, she knew that he'd be there early, he always was. She rushed down the hall to the Chem room, calming herself before walking through the door. Their Professor was busying himself with writing their notes on the board, there were a few other students seated already at their lab tables, writing the notes down as the Professor wrote them. She scoffed, over achievers.

He was seated in the very back, just as he always was, his lab table always empty. Could she do it? Could she muster up enough courage to go over and talk to him? God, she hoped she wasn't too awkward.

She shook her head, why was this so hard? He was just a boy. A very attractive, genius boy, but a boy nonetheless!

With that thought empowering her, she walked through the room, down the aisle until she stopped at his table. He looked up from the sheet music he had been scribbling on, he rose a single dark brow at her smiling face. She wasn't even really sure what her face looked like, she could feel herself smiling, she really hoped it wasn't in some creepy way. "Hi."

Again, his brow rose at her – which should really be illegal in all of it's attractiveness.

"Hello."

Then...she did the most mortifying thing she could ever think of doing in that moment. She proceeded to sit down next to him in the empty seat at his lab table. She started to take her notebook out of her bag, internally not at all sure how this was even happening, but on the outside she looked completely normal, pleasant even. She turned to see what he had been writing before her uninvited adjustment into his space. "What are you working on?"

He was looking at her like she was from another planet before he shuffled the papers together, clearing out his throat. "Nothing." He saw the way her face fell at his swift retort, not liking it. "It's, uh, a new piece I'm working on."

He watched the way her eyes brightened at his speaking to her, "Interesting."

"Quite."

She just started to take down the notes that were on the board, not really sure what she was even doing, but she just kept herself busy so that she couldn't freak out. He was just looking at her sitting next to him, like he'd never seen her in real life before. Why was he looking at her like that? It's not like they'd never been next to each other before.

They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, just soaking each other in. It became too much for Christine, she wasn't one for awkward silences. She could already feel the babble coming on when she opened her mouth to speak to him. "So," He turned his head, from where it had been glued to his paper, up to look at her. "Nadir says that you like me."

His eyes nearly popped from his sockets before quickly narrowing. Why had she just said that? Really, _why_ had that just come from her mouth? Great, now she had no choice but to kill herself.

"What?"

His voice was sharp, controlled. This was not good.

"I didn't mean it like that, you know in a _like-like, _you want to be with me, kind of way." He looked confused and annoyed at all the same time, so she just kept on speaking – which never really worked out for her as well as she hoped. "I meant it in a you don't dislike me kind of like. Like, a you don't hate me and we can be friends, like." She shook her head, her eyes looking so lost as they searched his. "You know?"

He just gave a slight shake of his head, "No."

She just closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath through her nose and holding it before letting it out. She opened her eyes back up and just gave him a small smile, her gaze giving away that she felt foolish. She held out her hand to him, "Hi, I'm Christine Daae. I'm basically the most awkward human ever, it's nice to meet you."

He brought his narrowed gaze down to her outstretched hand before giving her a small smirk-smile and taking her smaller hand in his. "Hello, Christine. I'm Erik Desslar, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

She was basically _dying_ at the physical contact he was supplying her with. His hands were bigger than hers, long and strong, she could feel the rough callouses as they touched her soft skin. She was looking into his deep green eyes, beaming.

He liked to see her smile, she had such a breath taking one. He also liked that he was the cause of that smile, never once in his miserable existence dreaming that it would happen. He began to pull his hand out of her's when she stopped him, tugging his hand back into her grasp. He gave her a confused look.

"Not that fast, I supplied you with a fact about myself and you have to do the same for the introductory to be complete."

He just raised a brow – he really needed to stop doing that with her so close – and let out a small chuckle. "Well, alright." He turned his eyes up to the ceiling, thinking, before looking back down to her. "Uh, I'm Erik and I write all the musicals for the school."

She rolled her eyes and held onto his hand tighter, so he wouldn't let go. "I already knew _that. _Give me something good."

He scoffed, "Well if that's the criteria of this official meeting than you need to supply another snippet of information for yourself as well, because I already knew that about you."

She gasped at him, "You already knew that I was awkward and just left out at sea to flail around like and idiot?"

He smirked, "Apparently, yes."

She pushed him lightly in the shoulder with her free hand. Well, he hadn't been expecting that. People didn't touch him, in fact, just her holding his hand this long left it burning. He wasn't sure how he wasn't sweating or hiding a hard on at the mere touch of her against his skin.

He had the decency to look mock-appalled that she had struck him. "Well, that's what you get." She couldn't help the smile that broke out over her face, while she was trying to keep the mock-anger that it had been set in. "Now, because _I'm_ nice and play by the rules, I, Christine, can not do math. I loathe it entirely. Your turn."

"Alright." He thought for a moment before replying. "I don't like to sing in front of people."

Her mouth dropped open at his declaration, "What?"

"I said that I don't – "

"No, no, no," She cut him off. "I heard _what_ you said, I just don't believe that you said it."

He quirked a brow. "Why?"

"Because you have an amazing voice!"

Well, that was something he hadn't expected to here from Christine Daae. Granted, he hadn't ever really given her the opportunity to say much to him, but he hadn't expected her to afford him the same privilege of compliments that he thought of her. Wow. The thought that Christine Daae – in all her incomprehensible beauty – liked his voice and considered it amazing was astounding him, and causing him to stop breathing all at once.

The bell sounded somewhere behind them, causing Christine to pull away her gaze from his. He felt a loneliness creep back inside of him without her unwavering connection.

Their Professor was waiting for all of the students to be seated before he began, Erik reluctantly pulled his hand away from her's. She turned to give him a small smile before righting herself, bringing her attention back to the front of the room where the teacher was sure to start droning on. He didn't miss how the other students peeked back at them, probably in awe and concern that charming Christine Daae was sitting with lonesome Erik Desslar. He hated everyone.

With his bad mood set back in – although, significantly less effective than before because of his encounter with the incomparable brunette to his right – he went back to his papers that were bunched up together, sorting through them to find his notebook. He started to take down the notes that were written on the board, ignoring all the glances that the other ignorant ingrates were sending his way. He wouldn't let them bother him much, his Christine had noticed him in a way she had never before. Now, if only he could pluck up enough confidence to actually do something about it.

_Calm yourself, Erik_, he chided himself. _First you must conquer Chemistry before you can conquer,__ Christine._


End file.
